Coding & Compliance - November 2010
“Understanding the ICD-10 Structure”
Everyone is aware that effective October 1, 2013 ICD-10 will replace ICD-9. the ICD-10 structure will consist of two volumes. A tabular list and an alphabetic list, which will organize the information in two distinct different ways.
The tabular index will be divided into 21 chapters and will use anatomy as its primary axis for classification. Some of the chapters will be based on etiology or other criteria that will illustrate the disease process. The tabular index will also include instructional notes and conventions by which all coders should abide.
The alphabetic list will conssit of three sections:
- Section 1 is an index of terms classifiable to Chapters 1-19 and 21, (This will exclude drugs and chemicals), including the table of neoplasms.
- Section 2 is an index of the table of drugs and chemicals used to code poisoning and the adverse effect of drugs classifiable to Chapters 19 and 20.
- Section 3 contains the terms related to the external causes of morbidity and terms classifiable to Chapter 20.
The ICD-10 codes will consist of an alphanumeric formula containg a minimum of three characters and a maximum of seven characters.
The first three characters - a letter plus two numbers will refer to a specific type of disease or general category. For example, O00-O9A refers to pregnancy and childbirth.
The remaining characters: fourth, fifth and sixth digits provide more specificity, a decimal point separates them from the first three digits. Extensions sometimes are used in the seventh digit of the code to provide additional information. An example: S52.531A would be used for an intial encounter for Colles' fracture right radius.
In total there are 141,058 ICD-10 and ICD-10-PCS codes, which is an increase of 122,905 codes.
It is imperative that physician offices and hospitals have an implementation process for ICD-10 since it is estimated that there will be an increase (estimate 6%-10%) in returned claims due to inaccurate coding.
Stay tuned for additional newsletters regarding ICD-10.
If you have any questions or need additional information regarding this article, please contact Cindy Tipton-Cain at Cindy_Cain@MED3000.com
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